Global Forum on Environment: Making Water Reform Happen

Well-managed water systems are a fundamental policy goal for all countries and can be an important driver for green growth. Yet significant gaps persist between aspirations to ensure access to sufficient and sustainable quantities of good quality water and the actual conditions on the ground. Identifying appropriate policies and approaches for integrative water policy is only a first step - implementation is essential.

Photo: Angel Gurría, Secretary-General of the OECD at the opening of the Global Forum

Objectives

To identify the challenges of designing and implementing water policy reforms and strategies to address them;

To gain a better understanding of how integrated water policy reforms can be implemented in specific contexts incorporating well-recognised principles of environmental policy (e.g. the polluter pays principle, removing environmentally harmful subsidies), a sound economic basis (e.g. sustainable cost recovery) and good governance; and

To provide an opportunity for developing and developed countries to share experiences about past and on-going water policy reforms and to identify key factors for improving the prospects for success.

“The Israeli Water Sector: Closing the Gap” Mr. Abraham Tenne, Head of Desalination Division and Chairman of the Water Desalination Administration, The Governmental Authority for Water and Sewage, State of Israel

The Global Forum gathered over 250 participants from both OECD member and non-member countries, including senior government officials, sub-national authorities, and regulators; business leaders; leaders of non-governmental organisations and other civil society organisations; and leading water experts.

Countries the world over face mounting challenges in providing safe and affordable drinking water and sanitation services – from meeting the water targets in the Millennium Development Goals to complying with increasingly stringent environmental standards.